This Monday night González played a sold-out show at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre as a part of the Vestiges & Claws tour. A generously spaced-out crowd packed the venue in with a polite intensity particularly possessive of the square footage around their space. The anticipation was causing awkward tension throughout the room but as soon as González and the band took the stage everyone relaxed.

“Toronto loves you Joseeeé”

The line drawings of mountains and stars on the curtain backdrop perfectly set the stage for the show. Playing tracks from the new album starting with “Stories We Build / Stories We Tell” González played through a vivid selection of tracks including some classics and a cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”. His band is rock solid performing in perfect sync, playing off of each other’s peaceful energy cruising through each track one note at a time. After taking a solo stage to play “Crosses” and a few other songs José asked for the band to return on stage giving Barbarossa (James Mathé), who was on decks almost the entire night, a moment to perform “Home,” a track from his upcoming album Imager. With obvious shared history among all participating members, this isn’t just González show, it’s a José González family tour.

Closer to the end as the crowd was shouting out favorable comments, love confessions, and various odd support noises a few people began to request “Cycling Trivialities” coincidentally at the same time as the band was reshuffling setting up for that track. The joy crushed through the front of the room in a subtle wave.

After a breath break for applause, the encore ensued wrapping the set into one wonderful Monday night evening.

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With such a significant gap between albums, the most prevalent question on fans’ minds will be that of sound and just how significantly it has evolved or changed (if at all). With the amount of life to be lived between In Our Nature and Vestiges, growth is inevitable. This being said, González has managed to recapture a sound that is distinctively his own and reminiscent to past projects, whether from his solo work or with his band Junip. Rather than completely reinventing himself, González has taken a formula that works for him and has simply elaborated on it, producing an end product that is both lovely and welcoming.

Album opener, “With the Ink of a Ghost,” is a perfect example of this sweet, nostalgic quality. The track gently eases the listener in with skillful guitar chords and the introduction of González’s characteristically warm and ethereal vocals. The beauty of the track doesn’t hit you, but rather flows through you and around you like a gentle current. The following track, “Let It Carry You,” immediately gets you moving with a beat that, while still gentle, is infectious. I challenge you to listen to the entire track without bobbing your head or tapping your feet.

In an album as accomplished as Vestiges & Claws, it is difficult to choose a standout track. If there is one that stands taller than the rest, it is “Stories We Build, Stories We Tell.” Similar to “Crosses” from the debut album Veneer, “Stories We Build” manages to pack a punch both sonically and emotionally amidst an album that is otherwise so serene.

There are plenty of other eloquent moments throughout the effort. One of these moments can be found on the track “What Will” in which González namechecks the album as he softly sings, “Vestiges and claws/ fight for a common cause/ Refining without pause/ Fight for a common cause.” The poeticism in Gonzalez’s lyrics is entirely harmonious with the lovely quality of his vocals.

With Junip hard at work, producing three albums in four years, González’s solo work had previously been put on pause. Whether you’ve been a fan since the moment you heard “Heartbeats” or you’re just becoming acquainted with José González, Vestiges & Claws is an album you’ll want to add to your collection. Scheduled release date: February 17, 2015.

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Joined by three additional keyboards and an occasional bass guitar Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn created a small circle around José González at the center of this suddenly small looking theatre stage and in that circle they remained during the entire show. Anyone who came expecting fireworks, heavy bass, movement and performance was probably not very familiar with the way Junip works because it is one of those bands you go to see to relax and be absorbed into a cushion of soft sound. The calm and in a way simple beats, coupled with González’s gentle voice, create a warm, enveloping feeling. This is what peace sounds like where peace was made.

Most songs in the Junip repertoire are the sit back and relax kind which is what, by choice or by necessity, most people did taking up the upper balcony sitting. Some songs however, “Suddenly” being one of those, had a clear high points that silenced the conversations in anticipation of musical eruption slowly building up by Araya’s drums complemented by an occasional short verse.

The night concluded with a brief encore highlighted by the “Line of Fire”. The sound of music smoothly transitioned into prolonged applause through which you could hear González quietly thank the audience, bow down a couple of times and give a sweeping wave to the band behind him.

photos by Luis Enriquez

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What Rolling Stone calls a “pastoral kindness” echoes through Junip, the band Gonzalez got his start with, and is returning to with renewed energy. Junip consists of Gonzalez, Elias Araya (drums), and Tobias Winterkorn (organ, Moog Synthesizer). The trio settled on “Junip” 15 years ago, long before Gonzalez’s cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” became an international hit. Partially because of his own unexpected personal success, Junip has only produced one full-length album and two EPs. The band has released two full length albums in the last three years.

Explaining the name “Junip,” Gonzalez said, “It doesn’t mean anything, but the sound of it is great. We just like the aesthetics of the letters, it felt fun. And it was a reaction to bands with long names.”

More importantly, Junip reflects the band’s creative process: a mood passes through them that triggers their body to make certain sounds or grab objects that will symbolize what they’re feeling; they then find the appropriate words. This was the approach Gonzalez took to “Walking Lightly.” Playing some black major keys reminded Gonzalez of a springy anthem. “When I was trying to find words to match that feeling, the only words that came up were, ‘Walking Lightly.’ This is the anthem of ‘slowly moving forward, and enjoying life.’”

Junip’s eponymous sophomore album is certainly an extension of the band’s style, but Gonzalez disagrees with some reviews that say there is little difference between the first and second albums.  “Since Fields I’ve taken every song on its own merits. I avoid complicated words, just make it less brainy. The second album is more personal. There are more dark parts, and, I think, brighter parts,” Gonzalez said.

While Junip was released on April 23rd to generally positive reviews, the videos for the first two singles, “Your Life Your Call” and “Line of Fire” have been greeted, in general, with irritable confusion. The band gave free reign to fellow Swede Mikel Cee Karlsson to make whatever of the videos he wanted.

“The story in ‘Line of Fire’ is his idea,” Gonzalez said. “I wouldn’t say it’s an interpretation as much of as an additional story to the album.” When asked what he thought of the general puzzlement toward the video expressed in YouTube comments, Gonzales said, “It’s very interesting to see how people react to insinuations. He did a great job in making people react, which is all we would hope for,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales said he’ll spend the rest of the day making sure everyone in the band and production team has a passport for their American tour which begun on May 29 in West Hollywood. Once he knows everyone’s passport is in order, Gonzales said he’ll spend the rest of the evening doing some recording. It’s concern for others and passion for his art that may make Jose Gonzalez the sweetest man on earth.

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Junip’s members are Elias Araya, drummer, keyboardist Tobias Winterkorn, and frontman José González, who previously performed in electronica band Zero 7. González has a number of solo EPs and albums to his name and you may also remember him for his misty-eye-inducing acoustic cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats”.  With all of this experience González brings the heart-string-pulling folkiness of his solo work to Junip.

In this latest album, Junip, the psychedelic folk rhythms are awash in lyrical profundity and marked by Gonález’s distinctive vocals. Songs sure to hit your aural pleasure zone include “Villain”, “Suddenly” and catchy stand-out track “Your Call”.

Junip’s sound brings to mind other artists who are paragons of the genre, like Devendra Banhart, as well as Bill Callahan and Karl Blau. This album represents a softly-hued, captivating contribution from Junip, with plenty of good, upbeat hooks to keep us interested for a good long while.

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